Delusory
by Midnight's Inertia
Summary: Aviva is a vampire, longing for freedom from her pain.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

He stared at the girl sitting opposite him. Her skin was an unnatural shade of white, her hands delicate, with long fingernails. Her fingernails were dirty. Underneath there was dried blood and skin. On her slender arms were the severs where she had dug her fingernails into her flesh and dragged them down the length of her entire arm. She wore the standard hospital gown, even though she had brought an entire suitcase to the hospital when she was admitted. Her lips were cracked, dried, almost _parched_.

"My name is Dr. Kennedy," he said to her from across his finely polished desk. He was a young man of the age of twenty-two. This was his third patient since he had taken the job in London's topnotch psychiatric hospital. He had just gotten used to the strangeness of the place. It's quietness, with the occasional moans and screams of the troubled patients who had been admitted. It was usually eerily quiet. Not a breath could be heard.

The girl pulled a cigarette from her robe's pocket and lit it. She stared out the window, her two fingers balancing the cigarette in-between. She closed her eyes.

Dr. Kennedy opened the beige folder in front of him. He propped his spectacles on his nose at a more comfortable angle and read.

"Aviva Fleur," he said out loud. "What a pretty name." The girl didn't say a word.

"Your eighteen, so I expect you checked yourself into this hospital?"

Aviva did not reply. She puffed on her cigarette slowly. Dr. Kennedy leant back on his chair and put his hands behind his head, crossing his legs in front of him.

"Why did you admit yourself in this hospital, Aviva?"

"I'm not a nutcase," she blurted out suddenly.

"If your not, then why did you admit yourself into this hospital?" he asked calmly.

"You wouldn't understand," she said softly. "You would never understand."

"It says here that you claim you were a vampire," he said to her, with a chuckle. She looked to the ground, her body tensing.

"Yes," she said. "I was."

"So you used practice the occult, worship Satan, and drink blood?" Dr. Kennedy rocked back and forth on his chair. Aviva turned her head back to the window and flicked her cigarette of the ashes that had built up at the end.

"I told you you'd never understand," she sighed. "I thought I had to confess my secrets and I would be cured."

"That's correct."

"Well that," she said, "is pure bullshit."

"Where are you originally from?" he asked, changing the subject quickly.

"Paris."

"I went there for holidays last summer. France is a beautiful country," Dr. Kennedy said, trying to make conversation.

"Not the one I know," Aviva whispered.

"And what is the France that you know?" he asked.

"A France with poverty like you've never seen before, and death, and disease."

"Seems to me like your talking about the France hundreds years ago," he said. Aviva's lips seemed to part to form a small smile, a smirk. She was amused with something he had just said.

"I _am_ talking about that France," she replied.

"How could you possibly have known what it was like to live in old world France?" he asked.

She looked to the floor again, letting out a breath of smoke. "How could I possibly not?" She looked up at him and stared him in the eye. Her eyes were bright green, vibrant. Not like the eyes he had seen before that were dead and almost lifeless. Her long lashes curled up. One of her eyes was covered by her straight black bangs.

"So you really think you were a vampire, you really think you're immortal?"

"I'm not immortal anymore," she said. "I'm not a vampire anymore. I was. For a few hundred years."

"Tell me about this France you lived in," he said, playing along with her little story. He pulled a memo pad from his desk drawer and started to jot down notes. Then, she began to speak.

"I was born in the slums of Paris on Vertád Street. My mother was a whore, as simple as that. She would sell her body to anyone, anywhere, any time, no matter their age, no matter their ethnicity. She wasn't a very loving person; she was never there for me in my youth. She would from time to time forget I was there. To her, I was there to keep the shack in which we lived in order. I would live in the small shack by myself during the day while she went to wherever she needed to go. I alone I had to ward of other peasants who tried to steal our bread. A revolution was taking place in my country. Peasants were rioting. My mother told me not to participate and just let it be.

"The rioting was my opportunity to steal from the other peasants. Most of the peasants would be at the gates of the palaces, leaving their homes completely unattended. I would get into trouble so often." The girl smiled to herself. She closed her eyes as if she was picturing it, picturing the very place she lived in. She then opened her eyes, leant forward, and jammed her cigarette into the ashtray on the desk.

"When I was ten I was completely devoted to my mother. I loved her. I could never have denied her anything she wished. If she wished for me to sell the rags on my back, I would. And in fact, I did. Many times."

"Your mother was very dependent on you, wasn't she?" Dr. Kennedy said. Aviva nodded.

"My mother never mentioned my father. When I would ask she would give me a look. It was a sour look, a look of pure distaste. She would say he was dead to her and I would always reply that he wasn't dead to me. When I was fifteen I demanded to see him, to at least know his name.

"She spat out his name at me and sent me out onto the streets. She had closed her doors to me then. I was alone. And I hated her. I hated her so much. She turned her back on me. I was alone, with only my name, and my anonymous father's name. I wandered the streets for days. I was raped at least four times. I had lost all dignity."

"Why didn't you go home to your mother?" Dr. Kennedy asked.

"Because I was too stubborn. I wanted to find my father. I wanted to know who he was and what he looked like. Those days were the most painful days of my life. Soon I found out from a butcher that my father was dead. The fact that I would never hear his voice or know whether he was a good or bad man was overwhelming. I had nowhere to go. Back then peasants were not given opportunities. No one wanted them. No one cared for them. Everyone was worried about politics. But the butcher was kind-hearted. He let me work for him. He let me clean up after him. He was a pleasant man with a round face, and a round wife as well. They let me live in their basement. They both wanted a child of their own, and prayed for it. They said I was their gift from god. Monsieur Henry and Mademoiselle Lilia was the closest thing to a family I ever had.

"They were part of a higher state in French society and because of them, I became one too. Henry was very much involved with the revolution. I was more interested in art.

"One day I heard Lilia scream. It was far into the night. And that was when I was born into Darkness, as I call it.

"I hurried up the damp stone steps of the basement and found both of them dead. And even though I didn't realize it then, even though I didn't connect the dots, the bite wounds in their necks, the lack of blood upon the floor, and the fear in their dead eyes, that was my first experience in vampirism. That was my step into the world of the Undead, even though I was still mortal.

"When you say that a vampire had left bite marks in their necks, do you mean that he sucked their blood from these wounds?" Dr. Kennedy asked her.

"Yes," she replied. "And before I realized what this creature was that did this to them, he turned on me. He was a gorgeous creature, even thought I could hardly see any of his features. He gave off a radiance of beauty. I could feel it. It tingled my skin. It was a sudden attraction like in these modern day movies you mortals are so crazy about. And somehow, it was easy for me to accept him taking me by my throat and imbibing my blood. Even though he left me to die on the ground next to those I considered my parents, I understood."

Dr. Kennedy nodded, and scribbled on the notepad.

"The police found me the next day. I did not know what to tell them."

"You should have told them what happened," Dr. Kennedy said.

"They wouldn't have believed me. I was alone again. But this time, I knew what it was like to have a normal family, and that's what caused my second time being homeless to be much more emotional. Before, I was filled with hate for my mother. Now, I was filled with grief over the loss of people who cared about me, and who I cared for.

"I was a nomad. For months I would wander. I would sleep on corners of shops until the owners made me leave. I had an immense feeling of guilt. Why was it that Henry and Lilia died, but I remained alive? Why had the vampire spared me?

"And soon, the vampire found me. I had gotten into a fight with some other peasants over three pounds of bread. I didn't know that it was going to get violent until one of the peasants pulled out a knife. He stabbed the two other peasants and walked towards me. I dove out of the way and began to run when I heard him let out a scream. I dared to look around and I saw a shadowed figure pounce onto him and kill him. I was so lightheaded that I didn't realize the vampire was coming for me.

"'Come with me,' he said, taking my hand. The moon was high and full. The night was quiet. I could hear the crickets chirp loud and strong. The wind was dreadful. Autumn was in the process of turning into winter. My head was dizzy.

"I followed him to the woods. An owl let out a hoot, and flew off a branch of a tree, almost knocking me down. The vampire continued to lead me on."

"Why would you go with him?" Dr. Kennedy asked.

"Because I had nothing better to do. I was alone. I did not care what became of my life. I was almost in complete self-destruct mode, and the fact that there was some kind of adventure that would break the daily bore of my life was quite appealing.

"Anyway, he led me deep into the woods where I could hear the wild animals around us. They were closer than I would have wanted, but I didn't give a damn back then. All of a sudden he spun around and spoke quickly, 'Do you want to be what I am? Do you want to have what I have? Immortality, free of disease and sickness? Do you want to become a vampire?'

"I stood there, staring at him in the darkness. His eager, beautiful face. I could see it now, better than before. His blue eyes, his wavy shoulder length dark blonde hair. I wanted him. I needed him. He would complete me. He would take me from my walking death to something else, something better. I could feel it just by looking at him.

" 'Yes,' I said, simply, almost lamely. He bit me again."

"What did this bite feel like exactly?"

"It's so hard to put into words. The vampire gently wrapped his fingers around my shoulders and bit me in my neck, the same place that he had before. The marks were still there, and I could feel the scars rip open with the slash of his teeth. I felt his tongue lap up the pouring blood carefully. I moaned. This feeling was something I had never felt before. Even when he had taken me in his arms months ago, it had not felt like this. It was almost orgasmic. The blood was not being forcefully drawn out of me, but was merely flowing into his mouth. His tongue tickled the wound, round and round it went. The world around me became something fantastical. The colours blurred together creating a strange kaleidoscope-like pattern. I felt my skin tighten on my bones. I felt the colour drain from my face and my wither against my body. I was flesh and bone and muscle, nothing else.

"When the vampire finally pulled away from my mutilated body, he licked his lips and smiled at me. I could not speak, but I felt betrayed. What had he done to me? I thought I would surely die. I could feel the last bit of my life wavering inside of me, ready to drift towards the light in the darkness of the night. The vampire then gnashed his own fangs into his white wrist. I saw the blood flow.

" 'Drink,' he said to me, holding his wrist over my lips. I felt the blood drip onto my chin and fall onto my chest.

" 'No,' I said hoarsely with all my might. The thought of blood drinking was suddenly so revolting to me, it took me by force. I began to shake uncontrollably.

" 'You will die if you do not,' he replied. 'Drink.' I was faced with the decision whether to keep my life and participate in something that seemed so evil, so morbid to me, or die with some dignity.

" 'Aviva, drink. Drink, Aviva.' But I could not longer hear his cries to me. It seemed as if I was falling. I closed my eyes. My body was numb.

"And then I could see my mother. She was above me, as if she was an angel. There was a light behind her, so bright.

" 'Mother, I'm so sorry,' I said to her. I reached my hand up to her.

" 'It's alright Aviva,' she said to me. 'Everything is going to be alright.' She took my hand and lifted me from the ground. I was drifting into the sky, towards the moon, with her. All the pain had disappeared from my body, and I was no longer wounded. I was healed.

" 'Aviva!' the vampire yelled. 'Please, drink!' I opened my eyes. I was on the ground, the hard ground. The pain returned to my body. I parted my lips and saw him smile at me. I managed to nod in acceptance. He pressed his wrist onto my mouth and I felt the blood fall onto my tongue. The sensation from that made me go crazy. The blood was intoxicating. I could not concentrate on anything else but the blood flowing into my mouth and into my veins. I felt moisture reentering my body. I felt as if my only purpose in life was to drink, and to continue drinking. I never wanted the endless flow of drink to stop. I needed it.

"But then it was over. The vampire snatched his wrist away from me, fell backwards against a tree, and panted, cradling his wrist on the breast of his chest. I, like an animal, crawled on all fours towards him and tried to snatch his wrist away from him.

" 'More,' I begged him. 'Please,' I moaned.

"The frown dissolved from his face and he began to laugh. 'You'll get more later, I promise.'

" 'I want it now—' but I could not get the words out. Suddenly, I stood up, looking around. Everything was so different, so alive. I could feel the radiance erupt from everything around me. Everything was brighter, and so much clearer in the darkness than ever before…"

Aviva trailed off. Her eyes were big and she stared at the ceiling.

"I wish that I could see that again," she whispered. "I wish that I could see the night in all its brilliance with the eyes of a vampire. There was a feeling of power whenever we vampires arose at the crack of dusk because of what we could see."

She tilted her head, and remained silent for a minute, basking in the memory of that night. Then, she was snapped back to reality.

"Sorry," she said to Dr. Kennedy. "I tend to lose myself sometimes." Dr. Kennedy raised his hand in a simple gesture, signaling her to continue.

"The vampire took me to a the outskirts of a graveyard that night where a shack stood. It was small, smaller than the one I used to live in with my mother. He looked at me, eyes wide with suspense as if he was about to show me something that would surely shock me. He pushed the weathered wooden door open. Inside was shadowy and dark. I could not see anything that was inside.

" 'What are you waiting for,' he said to me. 'Step into my home.' He paused, bit his lip and then corrected himself. 'I mean, _our_ home.'

"I looked at him with doubt. 'Why?' I asked him. 'Why here? Surely a man such as yourself would take me to a place of more luxury. Look at the fabrics on your back. They are of such finery. You wear silver and gold bands around your fingers. You have jewels on your shoes.'

" 'Step inside, Aviva,' he said, ignoring everything which I said. I held my breath, and stepped into the shack. He came in behind me and closed the door behind him. We were in darkness. Complete darkness. I smelt lilacs. The vampire then lit a candle. The small shack had nothing in it except a dreary staircase that led down into more darkness. The vampire pushed me forward a little. Down the stairs we went. It was musty down there, humid and damp. When we got to the bottom, there were two iron doors with locks and chains. There was also a huge bolt in the middle.

" 'How are we supposed to open it?' I asked.

" 'Stand back,' he replied. I took a step backwards onto a stair, and he closed his eyes and put his hands together in front of his face as if in prayer. Slowly, he began to separate his hands, and as they separated, the door began to open. I lurched back onto the steps behind me and fell to the cold ground.

" 'Lord,' I whispered under my breath, a hand on my heart. The room inside was a beautifully decorated room of satin and silk. There was a piano in one corner, and bookshelves in another. In the middle were two coffins, open, but empty. Candles were everywhere and the floor was littered with hand-woven Persian rugs. Never in my dreams would I have imagined that I would have this.

" 'Welcome home,' he said, helping me up. I stepped into the gorgeous room, my heart beating wildly in my chest. I could feel the blood rushing through my veins so fast. I tapped some keys on the piano, while the vampire stared. He was obviously amused by this reaction.

" 'I'm dreaming. I must be dreaming,' I mused to myself. He grinned, and embraced me in his arms.

" 'What you have become,' he whispered in my ear, 'is far from a dream. Welcome to the life as an immortal.'

"I wandered around the room, soon finding a door leading to a long hallway with two doors on either side. The two on the left side led to a library and study, and the two doors on the right led to a wardrobe filled with clothes and jewels, and a locked door.

" 'You are never to go in there,' he said seriously. 'Never.' His eyes narrowed on me gravely. Then, suddenly, his face dropped the hard expression and he said softly, 'besides, only I can open it. You do not have the power which I have.' He then took my hand and led me back into the main room and sat on the rim of the half opened coffin.

" 'The sun will be rising soon,' he said simply. 'Climb into your coffin.' He gestured to the coffin that lay beside his.

" 'Wha—No. I can't. What are you talking about? I thought it was only the stories that said that we sleep in coffins,' I blubbered on.

" 'They are true in some aspects,' he said, his fingers running across the rim of the polished coffin smoothly. "We do sleep in coffins during the day. If a vampire ever met with the light of sun, they would meet a miserable fate. Their skull would burn from the light and they would erupt into flames. We have to sleep in coffins to protect ourselves. We have to live in seclusion while we sleep so that no mortal wanders in and lifts the lid of the coffin revealing us to our enemy. We must keep our identity a secret from the mortals, because they simply cannot be trusted.'

"I stood there in silence. 'Please,' he said. 'Climb in.' I closed my eyes and took in a breath, walking to the coffin that lay beside him.

It was a beautiful coffin. The polish shined in the candlelight, and the dark wood was blemish-free.

I stepped into it, feeling the soft lining of the velvet fabric under my feet. It was inviting, yet there was something that made me skeptical.

" 'It's completely safe,' the vampire said to me, reading my mind. 'Air creeps in; you won't suffocate. Besides, you're immortal now. Things like that shouldn't matter to you anymore. You are free to roam in any condition that you choose to pursue in.

" 'I suppose you're right,' I said stretching my legs out before me and laying my head down. I let my arms lay on their sides next to my body. They were straight. I was uncomfortable. The position was so alien to me. It was unnatural.

"Now I shall bid you goodnight,' the vampire said to me. I sat up to respond, but remained silent. I watched as he crossed his arms over his chest like a mummy and without raising a finger, he used his mind to lift the lid and slide it shut over his body. I lay back, uncomfortable, and pulled the lid on top of the coffin. In the pure darkness of the casket, I turned to my side. Sleep then enwrapped me."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

"Do vampires have dreams?" Dr. Kennedy asked Aviva.

"I suppose," she said. "Except, the dreams are reality, bits of the future. When we dream, we can see the future. Our unconscious selves know what will happen to us. I live in a world of reality, not fantasy, however romantic it may seem to you."

"Tell me more," he whispered suddenly. "I want to know what happened." He closed his eyes, and shook his head. Did he really believe what she was saying? No, no, he couldn't believe it. It was fantasy, no matter what she said. Coming to his senses, he lit a cigar and leant back in his chair, ready for more to come. But instead of getting what he wanted, there was a knock at the door, and a head poked in.

"Time is up," woman said. "Your next patient is waiting outside." Aviva stood up, and seemed almost relieved the get out of there.

The next day she was brought in, and began where she left off.

"I became accustomed to the lifestyle of a vampire fairly quickly. Every night we would feast on whoever crossed our path that seemed somewhat drinkable. I can never forget my first kill, and how the blood tasted on my tongue. Though it was incomparable to the taste of my maker, whose name I soon found out to be Reznoré.

" 'Come,' Reznoré had said my first night as a vampire. 'It is time to teach you the ropes.' I followed him, slightly fearing what was to come, and eager to know what exactly the 'ropes' were. We exited our hideaway and entered the busy streets of Paris. He led to me the area of Paris where the rich enjoyed their lavish lives and the poor tended to lurk in the shadows, for if they were caught in that area, they would be carted away by the police under suspicion of crime.

"We found my first meal then.

" 'Follow me,' Reznoré whispered. His fingertips were resting lightly on the brick wall of an opera house. I could hear voices inside. I heard shrieks of chorus and wails of song. There was a beating of a drum that shook the ground slightly. Reznoré peered around the corner. We stood in the alleyway in between the opera house and the drama theatre. The street was busy with the wealthy. Ladies were dressed in gowns of velvet and silk, and men wore long tailcoats with their respected family emblems embroidered on the collars.

"Reznoré swiftly moved forward into the crowd.

" 'Reznoré!' a voice yelled. A red headed girl stepped forward from the bustling throng of people, and leapt into his arms.

" 'Lila,' he whispered.

" 'Oh, Reznoré, I haven't seen you in ages. Father is in a constant anger, always cursing at you and questioning me on where you could be. I tell him I do not know, but he persists…' she staggered on her feet. 'And who is this?' she asked, tilting her head to me.

" 'This is Aviva Fleur,' Reznoré said. Lila curtseyed and laughed giddily.

" 'Don't I look just _royal_?" she asked. I stared at her, not knowing how to answer. Yes, she did. Her dress was a deep shade of purple, and lined with golden lace. Her corset was tied tight, and above it, her plump chest hung out of the sides. Her hair hung in a thick braid, and was lined with pearls and amethysts.

" 'Of course you do,' Reznoré said politely.

" 'Reznoré!' a booming voice exclaimed. A large man with a long graying beard pushed past his daughter to stand in front of Reznoré. 'You thief!' he cried out. A vein was throbbing in his throat. He was very tense, and now, I was very thirsty. I gave a soft moan. Reznoré glanced at me before addressing the man.

" 'Sir Edithlan,' Reznoré bowed deeply, 'How may I be of service to you?'

" 'Don't try to keep up respectable pretenses!' the man yelled.

" 'Lower your voice,' Reznoré said with an even tone. His face became cold. Sir Edithlan looked afraid for a moment, but then took back his angry tone.

" 'How dare you do this to me! How dare you leave me in this time!'

" 'What did I do?'

" 'You know very well what you did! Now if you don't give me back what you took I will report you to the police!' Reznoré's eyes looked tense.

" 'Can we discuss this someplace more private?'

" 'Come,' the man spat at Reznoré. We followed him to a pub named Horse's Cutoff. Inside, the man requested a back room. We followed the bartender to a corridor in the back of the pub where four doors lined both walls. The bartender unlocked the seventh door. Before shutting it when the four of us were inside, Reznoré whispered to him, 'Do not disturb us, we do not want any drinks just yet. Edithlan began raving immediately when the bartender left the room, not noticing Reznoré lock the door swiftly, secretly.

"Edithlan yanked a chair from the long oak table and sat down into it so hard there was a loud crack. Reznoré pulled two chairs for Lila and I, and then sat down next to me, facing Edithlan.

" 'Ever since Evelyn died, you have been nothing of a nuisance. It's as if you had the whole thing planned out. You came, you said that you could help the pain, but you didn't. You worsened it, and stole our money. I knew it was disappearing ever since you came along. Little by little, month by month.'

" 'Father, what are you talking about? You never told me that after mother died our money was being lost!'

" 'Hush!' her father said to her in a warning tone. 'Do not speak until you are asked.' Lila huffed in her seat.

"Reznoré stood up. He had a look in his eye. He looked like a monster. He looked demonic. How could such a perfect face look so daunting and intimidating?

" 'Your suspicions are correct indeed,' he said smiling deviously. "I did steal your fortune, and I will continue to do so, slowly, until you have nothing left.'

" 'What do you mean, Reznoré? What are you saying! That's absurd!' Lila shrieked. 'It can't be true!'

" 'It is,' Reznoré said, rounding to Lila. He touched the puffed sleeve of her dress, and pulled it slowly down her shoulder.

" 'Get off my daughter!' Edithlan yelled, standing up so swiftly that his chair went flying backwards into the wall, where it collapsed into a piled of rusty wood and nails. Reznoré wrapped his hand around Lila's neck and lifted her into the air. She screamed. Edithlan began to advance toward Reznoré.

" 'Stop him,' Reznoré said calmly to me.

" 'I can't, he's too big,' I exclaimed. But suddenly, I understood. I was a vampire now. I could take down anyone who stumbled into my path. I grabbed his wrist, and dug into it with my nails. He bellowed in pain, and fell to ground. I had ripped through his skin, through his veins. I kept digging in. The man kicked and screamed on the ground. I felt his bone, and pulled away, repulsed by what I just had done. I felt tears stream down my face.

" 'Come here, Aviva,' Reznoré whispered. I went to him. The girl was stripped naked, her body lying unconscious on the floor. The man screamed from behind me, a bloodcurdling scream. He had apparently seen his daughter lying there. Reznoré bent beside her, and lifted her. Her head bobbed on his arm. He placed her on the table.

" 'Turn the Edithlan to face us,' he said. I spun him around with relative ease. 'Now, bind him with this rope.' He threw me a long coiled twine, and climbed on top of Lila. The man shuddered as I bound him. When that task was finished, I stood beside Reznoré and the girl, trembling. What was to happen next? Reznoré took my hand in his and pulled me onto the table. He was in between the girls spread legs, and I was next to her head. Edithlan had a perfect view of us. The girl moved abruptly, and coughed. She opened her swollen eyes.

" 'Am I dead?' she whimpered.

" 'Yes,' Reznoré whispered.

" 'No you're not!' her father yelled. She closed her eyes, ignoring him.

" 'Oh, father, the things you say,' she raved madly.

" 'Get up! Get up, Lila! Run! Save yourself! Get up! Run! Run!'

"Reznoré chuckled. He lifted her wrist and handed it to me. 'Drink,' was all he said. He did not have to say it twice. I knew what I had to do. I knew that this was her fate. I was at perfect peace with the world and myself. This was nothing. It had to happen. My body had stopped shaking. I took her wrist, and felt at the milky white skin. The moment I sunk my teeth into her flesh, she began to scream. Edithlan was screaming for her to escape. Reznoré licked her nipples.

" 'Get off of her!' screamed Edithlan. My tongue lapped in her blood. I clamped my lips to the wounds which my fangs had left and sucked hair. I felt the blood fill my own dry, hollow, veins purging them out, relieving me. The girl began to quiet, as well as her father, who had begun a string of sobs. I felt her life go, and felt my head get light. Reznoré pulled my head up gently.

" 'Do not drink until death. Death might take you down with it.' He smiled, and stroked my cheek lightly with his finger. A million questions flooded my head. I wanted to know how he had stolen this family's fortune, and why? Why had he chosen this family to corrupt?"

Aviva then was quiet. Dr. Kennedy was stunned at what she had told him. How could she have concocted such a strange story?

The girl lit another cigarette and closed her eyes, inhaling its goodness.

"I'm becoming less divine as the days go by," she whispered, her eyes clamped shut. "There's almost no trace left of the creature that I was." She opened her eyes suddenly and looked up at the ceiling.

Dr. Kennedy stared at her, unbreakably concentrating on her face, on her eyes. Those eyes. They were something else. And as he stared at her, they began to change. The colour began to drain from them, her pupils seemed almost dead. He jumped up from his chair and pointed his finger at her accusingly.

"How did you do that?" he demanded.

"What?" she asked, her face mixed with a confused, and surprised look.

"Your eyes!" he exclaimed. "They're different! They keep changing!" And what he was saying was true. The vivid green began to become gray, and then it became vivid again. "Why do they do that!"

She stood up. "I don't want to talk about it."

"You must," he said seriously. She started to walk towards the door, but the doctor jumped in front of it, spreading his arms over it. "You can't leave!" he said. "There's something wrong with you."

"Our session is over," she said calmly, pointing to the clock that hung above his desk. She reached for the doorknob, but the Dr. Kennedy grabbed her wrist.

"You're not leaving," he said.

"Let go of me," she whispered. "I've had enough of this." Dr Kennedy grabbed her other wrist. She stared in his eyes, and then, jammed her lit cigarette into his hand. He let out a yell of pain and let go of her hands to tend to his wound. She bolted out the door so fast he hardly saw her as she flew by, but her heard the swoosh of the hospital robes as they clung loosely around her body.

He sat on his chair, and began to look through her records frantically. There was no birth certificate. He began panting. He was losing his breath. What if she was telling the truth?

"No!" he whispered to himself. "Her story isn't true. It can't be!"

She was brought in the next day, two men in white suits holding each side of her. Her head was down, and her hair covered her face. She was seated on the couch, the two men on either side of her.

"Leave," he said to them.

"But we're under strict orders to be with her. She had outbursts last night. She almost killed her roommate."

"Leave," Dr. Kennedy said sternly. The two looked at each other, shrugged, and slugged out of the room. Aviva pulled her legs onto the couch and crossed them. She bent over and hid her face.

"Aviva," Dr. Kennedy began, "I'm sorry about yesterday's… experience." She didn't respond. "I don't know what got a hold of me. It was just so peculiar, you know, how your eyes did that. I never believed in the supernatural, and all of a sudden you come in. I didn't believe your story at all until that moment I saw your eyes. It scared me." The girl sat dead still, not a sound came from her body. "Don't you understand?" he said to her. "Don't you understand what it's like to be in my position? I hope you do." He took in a breath. She was being completely unresponsive. He knew better than to call a more expert doctor. She chose him to reveal her story to. He could not betray her secret.

"So what is this I hear? You tried to murder your roommate last night? That isn't good. I heard you tried to bite her. I heard you tried to suck her blood. I know what happened yesterday in my office was completely out of line, but that doesn't mean you pull a stunt like that. You have your entire life ahead of you. Why would you want to do things like that so that you're kept in this hospital longer? Don't you want to leave? Don't you want to get on with your life?" Dr. Kennedy sat there for half and hour, talking to her, trying to motivate her to talk to him. She just sat there, in that awkward position, not moving, not making a sound.

"Aviva, I must ask you again, why? Why did you try to kill your roommate?" She did not respond. It was no surprise. He sighed, and swung his chair around and stared at the clock on the wall. "What am I supposed to do with the rest of my time with her?" he thought to himself.

"You don't understand what it's like!" she shouted. He spun around, and saw that she had stood up, and was shaking with anger. Her eyes were dead. Her fists were clenched. "I'm dead!" she screamed. "I'm completely dead! It's over! I'm not immortal anymore."

"But you already knew that," he replied. "The first day you were here, remember? You said that you weren't one anymore. What is the big surprise?"

"I was unsure myself," she whispered hoarsely. "As long as my eyes were still green, I was a vampire… But now? Now I am dead! Dead! Dead as dead can be! And I thought that I had a shot, one last chance to regain my power, by sucking the blood of a mortal. But it didn't work. The blood tasted like nothing. I did not feel the same nourishment as I did before. I am human! I am dead! The blood, it tasted like salt and water, nothing more. I am dead! I am human!" She collapsed onto the seat behind her, and curled into a little ball, weeping, and repeating the same words, "I am dead, I am human, I am dead, and I am human."

Not knowing what to say, Dr. Kennedy dismissed her.


End file.
